It is common for children's books to incorporate physical entertainment features along with illustrations and text. These features are often dynamic, providing interest for the child. These features are also often intended to be manipulated by the child to add further interest and interaction and to develop motor skills such as hand coordination. A drawback of the prior entertainment features is that they are often fragile, unable to withstand repeated and misdirected abuse by children. Furthermore, the features which require physical interaction are often poorly designed so as to be difficult for a young child with underdeveloped motor skills to easily manipulate.
The prior art also teaches of children's books which incorporate handles into their designs. One such book, disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,616,851, has a number of pages each with an opening in a top portion thereof for receiving the fingers of a child. These openings act as a handle for carrying the book when it is closed but serve no other function. Another book, disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,590, has pairs of handles formed in facing pages which simulate handles for various steering apparatuses of vehicles. The handles also function as a carrying device when the book is closed.
Although the children's books described above take into consideration handles which are dimensioned for a child's hand, they do not involve handles cooperating with movable entertainment features which may be incorporated in the book. Therefore, there is a need in the art of children's books for a book with physical and visual entertainment features which are easily manipulated by a child.